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OPERS publications for retirees are available for immediate use by clicking on the name of the publication listed below. We encourage you to request publications to be mailed to you if printing a publication is not possible. The publications you request will be mailed to you within three to five business days.

All publications are available in PDF format unless otherwise denoted at the publication listing. If you have trouble viewing a PDF, then please visit the publications help page for assistance.

Publications to be mailed to:

Please fill out the form below in order to have a form(s) mailed to you. The name and address information you enter will be used exactly as you enter it to create your mailing label, so please be sure to enter the data accurately.

DESCRIPTION

As a member of OPERS you are enrolled in one of the three retirement plans – The Traditional Pension Plan, the Member-Directed Plan or the Combined Plan. These mandatory plans require contributions from both you and your employer that are placed into an account used to fund your pension at retirement or available by refund if public employment is terminated.

In addition to participating in one of the mandatory plans, you also have access to additional voluntary retirement savings. These voluntary contributions provide an opportunity to save money to serve as a supplement to your retirement income.

2012 Voluntary Contributions - Limits and Interest Rates

The Ohio Public Employees Deferred Compensation Program is a supplemental retirement program for Ohio’s public employees. The program is available to OPERS members under all three of the OPERS Retirement Plans. The maximum contribution amount for 2012 is $17,000.

If you participate in the OPERS Member-Directed or Combined Plan, you may make additional after-tax contributions to your individual defined contribution account. These deposits are limited by federal tax law to 100 percent of your annual income from all public employers or $50,000, whichever is less.

If you participate in the OPERS Traditional Pension Plan or are a re-employed retiree contributing to a Money Purchase Annuity, you may deposit after-tax money in the Additional Annuity Program, which will be invested in the OPERS Stable Value Fund. These deposits are limited by federal tax law to 100 percent of your annual income from all public employers or $50,000, whichever is less.

This leaflet describes the different types of voluntary retirement savings and their rollover options for OPERS members.

Traditional Pension Plan members who are thinking about retirement should begin the process with some advance planning that will help avoid problems and make the transition to retirement easier. The information in this leaflet will guide you through the benefit application process and provide you with the details of the benefits available under the Traditional Pension Plan.

As a member of OPERS in the Traditional Pension Plan, you are eligible to receive an age and service benefit if you are age 60 and have five years of Ohio service or 60 contributing months of part-time service credit. You also receive a reduced benefit as early as age 55 if you have 25 years of service. With 30 years of credit, there is no age requirement or age benefit reduction.

Several months before you intend to retire, you should request an estimate of the benefit you can expect to receive. The request must include your proposed retirement date, your Social Security number, and the dates of birth for you and your beneficiary. This information enables us to give you estimates of the benefit amount you might receive under each of the optional payment plans explained in this leaflet. Estimates much earlier than actual retirement are not reliable because of changes in status and salary that may occur.

As a member of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System you have options when it comes to terminating public employment. Regardless of the OhioPERS retirement plan in which you participate, you may leave your account on deposit with OhioPERS or take a lump-sum refund upon leaving an OhioPERS-covered position. Each option will have an impact on your status with OhioPERS. This leaflet describes the options you have for your account and the affect it will have on your membership status.

After a member retires under any of the OPERS retirement plans, re-employment in a job that is covered by OPERS, including service in an elected position, may affect continuing receipt of benefits. Retirees who become re-employed must notify the employer that they are receiving an OPERS retirement benefit.

You should discuss your re-employment plans with your employer to determine whether there are any restrictions or policies on re-employment. Your current employer is not required to re-hire you after retirement. This leaflet is a summary of how re-employment in an OPERS-covered position may affect OPERS benefit recipients.

When OPERS retirees become re-employed in OPERS-covered positions, contributions must begin from the first day of re-employment. Retirees should not be re-employed for at least two months after their effective retirement benefit date. The retirement benefit for each month in which re-employment occurs during those two months will be forfeited.

OPERS provides special retirement coverage for certain law enforcement and public safety officers who are required to contribute under the Traditional Pension Plan. These individuals, who must have a Peace Officer's Training School Certificate, are covered if they were hired on or after the dates of the enabling legislation.

If they were employed before the legislation was enacted, they had the option to be covered; if they did not elect law enforcement coverage, they remained under the regular OPERS schedule of benefits. This leaflet summarizes the qualifications and benefits for law enforcement and public safety officers covered under OPERS.

Service credit in the Traditional Pension Plan and Combined Plan or contributing months for Member-Directed Plan participants represents the period of time you are employed by a public employer and making contributions to Ohio PERS. You may also be eligible to purchase service credit and, in some instances, free credit may be available.

Service credit in the Traditional Pension Plan and Combined Plan is an important factor in determining both eligibility for and calculation of your retirement benefit and any potential health care coverage. Contributing months in the Member Directed Plan is important for determining the vesting of your employer contributions.

This leaflet outlines the various options available for purchasing service credit and contributing months.

This leaflet outlines the details of beneficiary designation and eligibility for survivor benefits. If you are a member or disability benefit recipient under the Traditional Pension Plan, monthly survivor benefits may be available to your qualified beneficiaries. Your beneficiary is determined in one of two ways. The first is automatic succession as set out in the law. The second is by specific designation, which requires you to name a person, persons, trust, estate or an institution.

Your account value may be refunded in a lump sum if your designation specifies a trust, estate, an institution, or your named beneficiary(ies) is not eligible for monthly benefits. However, if eligible children survive you, only monthly benefits can be paid. An eligible child is a natural or legally adopted child who has never been married under age 18 (or 22 if a qualified student attending an accredited school) or regardless of age, if adjudged physically or mentally incompetent.

An elected official or individual appointed to a publicly elected position who is not retired from an Ohio retirement system has the option of membership in OhioPERS at any time during their term. However, if these individuals choose not to become OhioPERS members, they must contribute to Social Security for the period they are not covered by OhioPERS.

An elected official or individual appointed to a publicly elected position who is retired from an Ohio retirement system will be treated as a re-employed retiree. Once an elected official becomes a member of OhioPERS they must continue membership for the current as well as subsequent elective service. This leaflet outlines the details of OhioPERS membership for elected officials.

The Additional Annuity Program is open to Traditional Pension Plan contributors and re-employed retirees contributing to a Money Purchase Annuity. Designed to supplement your retirement income, the Additional Annuity Program is an account, separate from your mandatory OPERS contributions, that allows you to deposit funds while working as a public employee.

Additional annuity deposits are limited by federal tax law to 100 percent of a member's annual income from all public employers contributing to OPERS or $50,000, whichever is less. Your deposits will purchase shares in the OPERS Stable Value Fund.

Members in the Traditional Pension Plan and Money Purchase Contributors are required to complete the appropriate Additional Annuity Deposit-Traditional Pension Plan Contributors (AAA-T) form to deposit additional monies into a separate account.

Publication Name

Health Care Coverage

Publication Code

ISL-J

Last Revised Date

01/2013

Next Revision Date

This leaflet is currently under review

DESCRIPTION

In addition to the benefits OPERS guarantees for you at retirement, we also seek to provide supplemental health care coverage. Although not a guaranteed benefit, providing an affordable, quality health care program has been a priority at OPERS and will continue to be in the years ahead.

OPERS offers two different health care plans. The plan you participate in will be based on when you earned your qualifying years of service credit. This leaflet offers a description of the current (December 2005) OPERS health care plan.

OPERS members in the Traditional Pension and Combined Plans are eligible for one of two disability programs, the Original Plan or the Revised Plan. Employees who had contributions on deposit with OPERS on or before July 29, 1992, had a one-time opportunity to select coverage under one of these programs. Those employees hired after July 29, 1992, are covered only under the Revised Plan. This leaflet highlights the features and benefits of both disability plans.

If you are actively contributing to the Traditional Pension Plan, you may be able to change your retirement plan to the Member-Directed Plan or the Combined Plan. A plan change can only be made at certain times during your career and only while you are actively contributing to Ohio PERS.

If you are actively contributing to the Member-Directed Plan, you may be able to change your retirement plan to the Traditional Pension Plan or the Combined Plan. A plan change can only be made at certain times during your career and only while you are actively contributing to Ohio PERS.

If you are actively contributing to the Combined Plan, you may be able to change your retirement plan to the Traditional Pension Plan or the Member-Directed Plan. A plan change can only be made at certain times during your career and only while you are actively contributing to Ohio PERS.

This booklet is provided to assist OPERS members and benefit recipients in understanding Ohio domestic relations law in relations to their OPERS accounts and is not legal advice. The termination of an OPERS member or benefit recipient's marriage by divorce, dissolution or annulment may impact their OPERS Traditional Pension Plan, Combined Plan or Member-Directed Plan account. If a member and their spouse are getting a legal separation, this proceeding may also impact the member's account.

Member-Directed Plan participants who are thinking about retirement should begin the process with some advance planning that will help make the transition to retirement easier. The information in this leaflet will guide you through the application process and provide you with the details of the retiring under the Member-Directed Plan.

Combined Plan participants who are thinking about retirement should begin the process with some advance planning that will help make the transition to retirement easier. The information in this leaflet will guide you through the application process and provide you with the details of the retiring under the Combined Plan.

DESCRIPTION
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 415(b) limits an individual's pension amount. Benefit allowances are limited to the lower of the OPERS benefit calculation or the IRC 415(b) limit. Only the portion of the retirement benefit attributable to employer contributions as well as picked up employee contributions is compared to the limits under IRC 415(b).

This fact sheet outlines the details of the IRC 415(b) limitations and shows the dollar limits on which the IRS 415(b) limitations are based.

The Health Care Coverage Guide explains the coverage available to eligible retirees and their qualifying dependents.

Publication Name

OPERS Employer Guide: Special Instructions for Elected Officials This publication is being updated due to pension legislation and is temporarily unavailable. Please check back later.

Publication Code

--

Last Revised Date

04/2011

Next Revision Date

None expected at this time

DESCRIPTION

This brochure is designed to enhance the understanding and define the responsibilities of employers who have elected or appointed officials on their employee rosters. The information provided is a high-level overview as well as practical applications for ensuring elected officials are reported accurately.

OPERS retirement law charges payroll officers, fiscal officers, and department heads with responsibility for: deducting, reporting, and transmitting retirement contributions; paying the employer’s contributions; and maintaining records which will provide information needed by the OPERS Board of Trustees. Provisions in the law and regulations of the board specify procedures for meeting these general responsibilities in an efficient and adequate manner.

This Employer Manual outlines the details concerning the duties of fiscal and payroll officers and department heads to comply with retirement law. However, it cannot and does not change any of the provisions of the Ohio Revised Code. You are urged to become familiar with the Employer Manual. Refer to it when you have a question and please contact the Employer Outreach call center with your inquiries.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) law makes it possible for an employer to pay (pick-up) employee contributions for members of OPERS. This is a technique that enables employers to designate employee contributions picked up by the employer as employer contributions.

The federal law states that employer contributions to a qualified pension plan are non-taxable to the employee until such time as the contributions are received as a refund or as retirement benefits. Use this publication to learn how to implement an employer pick-up plan.

This document is a list of the most commonly prescribed drugs. It represents an abbreviated version of the drug list (formulary) that is at the core of your prescription drug plan. This list is not all-inclusive and does not guarantee coverage.

This document is a list of the most commonly prescribed drugs. It represents an abbreviated version of the drug list (formulary) that is at the core of your prescription drug plan. This list is not all-inclusive and does not guarantee coverage.

The Partial Lump Sum Option Payment (PLOP) is an option at retirement that allows a recipient to initially receive a lump sum benefit payment along with a reduced monthly retirement allowance.

If a PLOP is selected, the lump sum payment cannot be less than six times or more than 36 times the monthly amount that would be payable to the member under the plan of payment selected and shall not result in a monthly allowance that is less than 50 percent of that monthly amount.

The total amount paid as a lump sum and a monthly benefit shall be the actuarial equivalent of the amount that would have been paid had the lump sum not been selected. As a lump sum distribution, the PLOP payment is fully taxable and may be subject to court orders, such as, division of property orders, if applicable.

This publication summarizes the PLOP and shows an example of how it would affect a recipient's monthly benefit.

This guide reviews important steps to take for enrolling in Medicare and a medical/prescription plan supplement, addresses differences between Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans, provides detailed information about the reimbursement process and much more.

This is the Medical Plan Description for the Medical Mutual PPO Plan. The document describes coverage features of the plan in which you and your eligible dependents, if you have elected coverage for them, are enrolled.